Malaysia’s Central Bank Considering Cryptocurrency Ban

Just as the acceptance of cryptocurrency by Taiwanese government created a big enough cause for celebration among cryptocurrency enthusiast around the world, a shocking news came in of probable ban on all cryptocurrency based trading by the Malaysian government. As per Bernama, the state news agency, the central bank of Malaysia made the announcement last Thursday taking into consideration the largely unregulated cryptocurrency market.

Tan Sri Muhammad bin Ibrahim, the governor of Bank Negara Malayasia (BNM) was recently quoted during the 9th International Conference on Financial Crime and Terrorism Financing held in Kuala Lumpur as saying, “This (ban on cryptocurrencies) is something that we will decide on by the end of the year” on being asked to comment on the stance taken up by Malayasian officials in line with People’s Bank of China.

The strict culmination of cryptocurrency activities has led to closure of several big shot digital currency firms in China. Since the Chinese government could not bring forth any regulation in the cryptocurrency sector they decided to relinquish it altogether.

South Korea has also taken the anti-crypto route by imposing a ban on all ICO activitieswhich is being used as the best capital raising platform for startups. However Muhammad Ibrahim has said that in case the Malaysian government agrees to the Bitcoin operations, then it would call for registration of the traders by “collecting the data, and also making sure whatever they do will be (made) transparent”.

“Just wait. Now is only October. In less than three months, we will give you the details”, added Muhammad. However he could not ignore the associated risks of terrorism financing and money laundering which comes along with the cryptocurrency powered activities.

“We hope that by year end, BNM will be able to come out with some guidelines on cryptocurrency, particularly those related to anti-money laundering and terrorist financing. We want to ensure that there are clear guidelines for those who want to participate in this sector.”

A notice was issued by BNM in 2014 which stated:

“The Bitcoin is not recognised as legal tender in Malaysia. The Central Bank does not regulate the operations of Bitcoin. The public is therefore advised to be cautious of the risks associated with the usage of such digital currency.”

What the future of cryptocurrency holds in this South East Asian country is something which will reveal its course only with considerable passage of time.